Everards to freeze wholesale prices for third year running
Everards, the Leicester-based brewer and pub operator, will freeze the wholesale beer price it charges its licensees next year for the third year in a row.
The last time the brewer levied a wholesale price increase on its estate of 170-odd pubs was in the Spring of 2008.
Stephen Gould, Everards' managing director, said the brewer couldn't do anything about the VAT hike in January or whatever the Chancellor of the Exchequer had in mind for beer duty.
But the wholesale price move was nevertheless designed to help Everards licensees grow their cask ale offer as much as possible in what is a difficult market, he argued.
"We hope the result will be increased cask ale sales across our estate, since for every 10 pints sold four are ale," he added.
Gould also revealed Everards would be launching a specially-priced 3.5 per cent cask ale exclusively for its pubs in January.
'Old Flame' will be priced at the pumps at £2.25, which Gould said meant licensees would see their cash margin protected while offering a competitively priced beer for the consumer
"We launched similar entry level priced, lower ABV strength beers in January in the last two years. It's a way of helping our pubs at a difficult time of the year," he said, adding sales patterns of Old Flame would be monitored and the offer may be extended beyond January.
On the subject of lower strength beers Gould said he broadly welcomed the government's recently announced proposals on lower duty being applied to such products, although he had some caveats.
"I'd like to have seen the lower level a bit higher and the higher duty a bit lower, but at least it's heading in the right direction. We get what they are trying to achieve, namely encouraging people to move to lower strength beers," he said.
Mindful of the move towards lower strength ales Gould said Everards had produced a 2.5 per cent cask ale in its research lab recently, but he admitted the results "lacked body and flavour".
In the months to come brewers across the country will be trying to meet the challenge of producing a low ABV ale that matches the taste and sensory experience of a stronger one.
